Improvement in washing-machines



Yl. i1. WHART'NABY.

Washing-Machines.

Iatented March \7,1874-.

NOA/18,789.

IIHIIH'HII lun Sycbaufo'zf James Q, Wharnaby,

by )#MVQ/ his Attorneys.

NTTEE STATES PATEET CEEIGE JAMES WHARTNABY, OF VVILMORE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN WASHINGMACHINS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 148,789, (lated March17, 1874 g application tiled February 19, 1874.

To all whom ift-may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMEs Q.. WHARTNABY, of lVilmore, in the county ofCambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in VVashing-Machines, of which the following is aspecification:

My invention relates to that class of washing-machines used withordinary wash-tubs, and in which a tixed bottom board provided withradial ribs is employed in connection with an upperhorizontally-oscillating rubber, also provided with radial ribs, to rubthe clothes between them in the suds in the Jtub, with the rubbersupported upon a bearing on a central post from the base-board; and myimprovement consists in combining, with the operating` cross-arm of saidoscillating` rubber and its supporting-post, a bearing for the post an dthe operating-arm, constructed with camsurfaces, for the purpose ot'giving the rubber a positive vertical pressing or pounding movement uponthe clothes as it is operated back and forth horizontally, by which theclothes are both rubbed and pounded at the same time and by the samemovement of the rubber, thereby doing the washing better and quickerthan if they were rubbed only by and between the two ribbed surfaces, bysimply turning the rubber back and forth upon its central post by thehandles to produce this compound action of the rubber.

The drawings represent an elevation of the ribbed washing-boards asapplied to the tub, and a vertical section ot' the same, showing myimprovement applied thereto.

A bottom board, A, is tixed in the bottom ot' the tub, and is providedwith rounded ribs a, arranged radially upon its upper surface; and apost, B, rises from the center thereof, having a horizontal shoulder, C,near its upper end. A rubber, D, with radial ribs b on its under side,has a central opening, c, which tits over the vertical post B, and issupported thereon, so that the ribs a and b do not touch, by means ot' ahorizontal cross-arm, E, which rests upon the shoulder C, and isconnected to the rubber l) by side posts F, so that the rubber can beturned horizontally by means of handles G on the ends of the crossarm.The upper portion of the post is reduced in diameter to form a'guide,H,for the crossarm E, and, with the opening c in the rubber, to hold itcentrallyin position over the bottom.

In connection with the horizontal movement of the rubber D upon itsbearing, it also has a vertical movement thereon at the same time bymeans of two small corrugated plates, d and e-one fixed to the underside of the crossarm E, and the other upon the shoulder C of thevertical post-forming the bearing upon which the rubber rests and turns;and as the cross-arm E is vibrated, its plate d moves over the xed platee, and their c orrugations moving over each other cause the rubber torise as the swells pass over each other, and to fall by its weight asthe swells of one t into the depressions of the other, and thus give tothe rubber a positive pounding movement upon the clothes, and therebysubject them to two actions, which very materially facilitates theoperation, besides washing the clothes much cleaner. Y

The addition of this simple poundingdevice also makes a durable bearingfor the rubber, and in this respect makes no additional expense to themachine, but gives it great advantage over a rubber having only ahorizontal rubbing action.

By this pounding movement the rubbing surfaces do not touch, and theclothes are thereby prevented from being cut out, as the sucking andpounding action obviates the necessity of having the ribs rub upon eachother.

The rubber has perforations f, for the water to pass through as it isoperated.

In introducing and removing the clothes, the rubber may be removed fromthe supporting-post, the opening c being large enough for that purpose;or it may be lifted up and turned to one side.

I claim 1. In a washing-machine, the horizontal oscillating rubber D,having the cam bearingplates d and e, for the purposeY of giving apositive pounding action by the same movement by which the clothes arerubbed, as described.

2. The combination of the ribbed bottom A, the ribbed rubber D, thecentral guide-post B, and the cross-arm E with the movable and lixedcorrugated or cam bearing-plates d and e, constructed and operatingsubstantially as herein described.

JAMES Q. WHARTNABY.

Vitnesses: i J osErE MILLER, WM. R. HUGHES.

